Bunk Beds and Buntata’s Sgadan

The world of summer school…….a really unique kind of summer school…….not the summer school that a child might be forced to take part in if they didn’t quite acquire all of those credits they had hoped for. I’m talking about the type of summer school where you are able to move in for a full week, fiddle, step-dancing shoes, AND your Gaelic scribbler in tow. Summer school at the Gaelic College!

What an encounter for children of all ages! Having now had the good fortune of viewing the experience from both sides of the story; the instructor’s view and now the parent’s view, I think it is fair to say that to bunk down and dig in to the authentic Gaelic culture summer-school life for a week at the Gaelic College is an experience that will hold deep in the hearts of the participants for many years to come.

An eight-year old girl goes through her day nearly bursting at the seams with excitement, coupled with the “awe” of a new environmentand amazement that this place actually exists. She will move from fiddle class with Glenn, to step-dancing with Leanne and then back over for laughs and language with Hector. Let’s end the day with a Gaelic song class with Angus, laugh some more and learn a really great milling song! A younger sister timidly follows along, loving the freedom but not so sure about the required independence that is associated with changing class. Can’t she “just stay in step-dancing class all day”? A younger sibling once again greets the morning with impatience of needing to visit the kitchen, followed by eagerness to find her piano instructor; “Where’s Kolten???”. She “absolutely LOVES piano class” and shines with the challenge of making chords with the tiny, sweet hands of a 5 year old.

The days are full, the evenings offer time to relax but don’t forget to practice after the ceilidh in the hall………..the bunk-beds await as the minds of all are filled with the tune of the summer, Buntata’s Sgadan rings through the walls and the fiddle fingers of that eight year old girl find their way with ease by the end of the week, much to the delight of all.